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contrary to expectation, the Japanese people appear to have become 

 accustomed to these, and the fact that such heavy burdens can be 

 borne without dangerous weakening of the economic situation is an 

 indication of very considerable progress in the general well-being. The 

 fire which has taken place in Osaka is also not likely to have any 

 permanent unfavourable effect, and the Japanese nation will soon 

 surmount its misfortunes and flourish more than ever. 



According to information received by the Deutsche Export : - Revue, 

 the preliminary work of the Commission appointed for the revision of 

 the Japanese Customs Tariff was completed on 20 th August at the 

 Ministry of Finance. On the part of the Government the statement 

 is made that in framing the new Tariff it does not wish to follow 

 any academic principles and will neither embrace Protection nor Free 

 Trade, its object being rather to fix the customs rates for the various 

 articles in harmony with the conditions which prevail in Japan and 

 in other countries. The conventional tariffs, however, are to be abolished 

 — a measure which will result in an annual increase of about 14 millions 

 n the customs revenues. 



Before we proceed to review the various principal articles, we 

 desire to mention that, generally speaking, the essential oil market 

 during the period under discussion has shown but few changes, and 

 that serious alterations in the market position were entirely wanting; 

 hence speculative undertakings have been altogether absent. The un- 

 favourable cold weather has not only greatly delayed the development 

 of all the indigenous oil-plants which are used in our industry, but 

 in most cases it has affected them so injuriously that in spite of the 

 considerable enlargement of our cultivations at Miltitz, no increased yield 

 can be expected as compared with the previous year. In the mean- 

 time our new distilling plant has begun to operate, but an enlarge- 

 ment of the building accommodation of our chemical department is now 

 needed, and the execution of this has been projected for next spring. 



Commercial notes and scientific information 

 on Essential Oils. 



Ajowan Oil. A considerable time has elapsed since any in- 

 vestigations were carried out as to the separate constituents of oil of 

 ajowan seed (Carum Ajowan Benth. et Hook.; Ptychotis Ajowan D. C, 

 Umbelliferae). As we happened to have important parcels of the seed 

 at our disposal we set aside 500 kilos of the mixture of hydrocarbons 

 usually designated as "thymene" for the purpose of subjecting it to 

 closer examination. 



